Now's Not the Time
by Whinnie
Summary: Not her fault she got on your case like that, Jet. ;; Overrated fluff and underdeveloped plot; you have been warned.


_**Now's Not the Time  
b y W H I N N I E**_

_

* * *

It was another regular night at the bar, and everyone was relaxing, including the green hawk. He sat, amused, as he watched an angry grey albatross bang his fists on the counter of the bar, arguing with the bartender. Heh... Storm was so predictable, it was embarrassing._

_The hawk's eyes swept around the room, and finally latched onto a purple swallow walking past him. She was so clumsy, she could barely walk in a straight line and was practically tripping over her own two feet. Jet merely shook his head, and continued to watch her, when suddenly, he remembered something. Jumping up from his chair, he made his way towards her and finally grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her back towards the table._

"_Heya!" the purple swallow responded giddily. Her voice was slurred due to the amount of alcohol she had consumed. "What is UP, Boss?" She laughed at her own imitation of the grey albatross._

_Jet simply raised an eyebrow at this behaviour. "Wave, are you alright?" he asked, addressing the purple swallow._

"_Yup!"_ _Wave responded. "Couldn't have been better!" She giggled._

"_Riiiiiiight," the hawk muttered sarcastically, sitting down. "Anyway," he continued, "I thought that you had to tell me something before. So what is it?" he asked curiously._

_Wave paused, thinking. Should she really tell him...? Nah, this wasn't the proper place for it. Waving her hand around to dismiss the subject, Wave replied, "Aah, I'll tell you later. It's not really important, anyhow. Besides, now's not the time. We gotta party now!" She let out a cheer and walked away._

_Jet gave a sigh, but finally, he jumped up and ran off after Wave. He was really going to regret this..._

* * *

Wave walked down an abandoned alley in Metal City. Although the rest of the city was full of hi-tech, futuristic roads and hovercars, this part of the area sorely lacked what the rest of the place had. In fact, it was the complete opposite – quiet, dusty, deserted... it was probably the kind of place where Jet would be.

For the past few days, the leader of the Babylon Rogues had not been present. At first, Wave and Storm weren't worried – they were used to each other just leaving the airship without a reason. But when Jet hadn't returned the next day, or the day after that, Wave and Storm had begun to get worried. Now, they were out, combing the streets in search of the green hawk.

Wave gave a sigh as she finished taking a look around the area. So far, nothing; Jet wasn't here, either. She came to a stop on her Extreme Gear and hopped off, then was about to turn the corner when she bumped into a familiar blue hedgehog. Oh, it was only Sonic, except he had a Band-Aid on his ear and a few bandages wrapped around his arm.

"Wave...?" Sonic asked, sounding surprised to see her. "_Of course he should,"_ Wave reasoned in her head. "_He probably didn't expect to see anyone – least of all, me – around here."_

"Hey," the purple swallow calmly greeted, giving a small wave. "What's up?"

Sonic was silent for a moment. Finally, he took a deep breath and blurted out, "Jet's at the hospital right now."

A current of cold air passed through Wave as she heard that. "Huh?" she asked, dumbfounded. "Wait... what? But how? That's impossible!"

Sonic shook his head, and the story began to unravel. "It happened a few nights ago," he began. "I was just roaming around here when I saw Jet practising. Well, he saw me and challenged me to a race." Sonic smirked as he recalled Jet's smug face, so confident that he would win. However, as he continued on, his face returned back to its solemn, serious look. "We just finished up a few and were about to start up on another one when these gangsters appeared and made us come with them." At this point, he sighed. "They threatened to take away my Soap shoes and Chaos Emerald, plus the Ark of the Cosmos, if we didn't listen to them."

"But..." Wave was still shocked. "Couldn't you have done _something_?" she asked, in an almost pleading voice.

Sonic shook his head. "I thought we could take those gangsters on, but Jet decided to just go along with their plan," he replied. "He said he didn't want to risk losing anything valuable to these idiots. So we went along with them. They beat me up and were about to start in on Jet when we heard police sirens. They left me on the ground, bleeding, then shot Jet and ran off. The police took us to the hospital. But now... Jet could die."

Wave sighed. "But that's so unlike Jet," she reasoned. "He's usually the kind of guy who kicks someone's ass when they threaten to beat him up. Why not this time?" she wondered aloud.

Sonic shrugged. "Beats me." He handed Wave a small scrap of paper. "That's the hospital Jet's staying at." With that done, he was about to speed off, when suddenly, he heard a sound. Stopping to listen, he closed his eyes and perked his ears up.

"I... never got to tell him..." He heard a faint whisper. He realized it was Wave, but her voice was so quiet, it could easily be mistaken for the wind. "I was going to tell him the other day, but then... I told him, 'Now's not the time...' And now... I might never get to tell him..."

Sonic sighed, and turned around to face the purple swallow. She was only a crumpled form on the ground, eyes looking down, not meeting his. "_What should you do,"_ he asked himself, "_when you're with a heartbroken, yet very stubborn, swallow?"_ Finally, he replied, "Wave, I guess... only _you_ and your heart can know when the exact time is right. So do me a favour, get off the ground, and stop crying, alright?" He cracked a slight smile to show that he was joking, and gave a big thumbs-up, before running off.

Finally, Wave got up, brushing herself off. If Sonic, being the moron he was, was actually _right_ this time, then... her heart was saying the right time was now.

* * *

It was so peaceful here, so quiet... where was he? Jet's eyes slowly fluttered open. Rubbing his sore head, he slowly sat up, looking at yellow walls and a white ceiling. He smelled antiseptic, an unfamiliar scent... Suddenly, Jet's eyes widened, and he settled back into the hospital bed. He remembered where he was – the hospital.

The door to the hospital room flew open with a loud bang. Standing in the way was a purple swallow. Jet frowned. She looked upset, and immediately ran to his side. "JET!" she yelled out, staring at him.

Jet was half covered by white hospital sheets, and gauze bandages were wrapped around his chest. The Ark of the Cosmos, which seemed to glow brighter than before, was latched firmly around his right wrist, and Jet's yellow goggles were still perched on his head. On the wall, not too far from the hospital bed, was the Type J, propped up against the wall.

"W-w-wave?" Jet asked. How did she come to know he was here?

"Yes, it's WAVE!" The purple swallow angrily yelled out, practically flinging her own board against the wall. "Or have you forgotten me thanks to your little accident?! Sonic had to tell me all about it for you, you, you... YOU JERK!"

Jet was absolutely flabbergasted. Wave took a deep breath to try and calm herself down. "Now, Wave," Jet calmly said after a moment had passed, "would you please mind repeating what you said? You were speaking too fast for me to hear..."

"Sorry," Wave mumbled, looking down. But then she looked up and locked eyes sharply with Jet, before snapping, "Hey, it's not my fault I got on your case like that! We were worried about you when you didn't come back! Storm's probably still looking for you right now!"

"Yeah, about that..." Jet sheepishly scratched his head. Wave sat down on a stool located beside the bed, listening intently, as he continued on, "I knew you guys would worry about me even more if you heard what had happened, so I decided to just tell you about it when I came back. Sorry I didn't tell you guys," he apologized.

Wave smirked as she joked, "I see... so, you didn't want to tell us anything because you didn't want us to see you all hurt and vulnerable in this bed, right...?"

Jet's eyes widened. "Uh, no, no way! That's not true!" he protested, beginning to blush.

Wave gave a laugh. "You're such an idiot," she remarked, quietly for once.

Jet raised his eyebrow at this weird behaviour. Usually, Wave would just yell and yell and yell at him nonstop, and then she would keep poking fun at him, but not today. "Hey, are you all right?" he asked.

"What do you mean, 'am I all right'?" Wave asked. "Nothing's all right... I mean... everything's fine!" She began to blush at her slip up.

Jet smirked. "C'mon, Wave, you can tell me!" he prodded her. "Besides, you know I don't like secrets," he teased.

Wave didn't smile. "Well," she hesitantly began, "I've been feeling... a bit _weird_ lately."

"What do you mean, 'weird'?" Jet asked, listening to his teammate's problems.

"It's like I've never felt this feeling before. It's strange," she murmured. "And, I... well, Jet... you gotta promise me not to tell anyone else about this. At least, not yet... please?" she pleaded.

"Sure," Jet agreed nonchalantly. "But, Wave... what _is_ it?"

Wave took a deep breath. "Jet, I think this feeling is love," she replied. "I think I'm in love with you."

* * *

It was suddenly very quiet in the hospital room. Not even the wind disturbed the two. Jet sat there, mouth agape in shock, while Wave's eyes travelled down to her lap.

Finally, Jet spoke. "Wave, d-d-do you... r-really mean that?" he asked, stuttering like Storm.

Wave glared at him. "No!" she yelled. "I did it because Amy dared me to! Of course I just meant what I said!"

It was uncomfortably silent again. Finally, Jet softly said, "I guess Sonic told you about how I ended up in the hospital, huh?"

"Yeah," Wave muttered, looking down.

"And he told you about how I refused to fight the gangsters, because they threatened to take away the Ark of the Cosmos, right?" Jet pressed on.

"Yes," Wave replied, confused. "_Why is he asking me all this?"_ she asked herself.

Jet took a deep breath. "Well, there was one more thing they threatened me with..." Grabbing Wave's shoulders gently, he made her look up at him and told her, "You know what that thing was?

"It was you, Wave. They threatened to hurt you if I didn't listen to them."

* * *

Wave was stunned. So, the reason for why he was lying in this hospital... for how he had gotten hurt... for why he had almost _died_... was because of her? Sure, she had known that Jet had cared for her and Storm up to some extent... but was he really that concerned about her?

Meanwhile, Jet's head reeled as he settled back onto the hospital bed. He couldn't believe he had just done that.

At last, Wave spoke. In a flat, monotone voice, she said, "You thought I was weak, didn't you? You knew that, if you and Sonic beat them up and then hightailed it out of there, they would eventually get back up and come for me." Suddenly, her voice turned cold and accusing. "And you thought that, if they _did_ try to fight me, I wouldn't be able to handle them!" She wrapped her gloved hands into tightly clenched fists, glaring at him, accusing him. "Is that right? I'm right, aren't I?!" Her voice rose, but her head dropped. She was avoiding eye contact again.

Jet gave a heavy sigh, clutching tightly onto the bed sheets. But finally, he let go of the cotton material and lightly rested on Wave's fist. "Wave," Jet slowly began, then nervously rushed on, "it's not that you're weak – in fact, you're probably one of the most strongest, badass girls I know of... but what if Shadow suddenly came in here with a gun and threatened to shoot me if you didn't go with him?" he stated matter-of-factly.

"Of course I would go with him!" Wave replied defiantly. "But it wouldn't be because you were weak!" she began to protest, when suddenly, she realized Jet had a good point.

"Exactly!" Jet smirked, smug at being right as usual. He then realized that he was practically holding hands with Wave, but none of them made an attempt to pull away.

Now that the worst part had come and gone, Wave felt the previous comfortable atmosphere of the room ease back in. In an attempt to keep things light, she teased, "You know, Jet, I think that you just made a valid point for the first ever."

Jet gave a goofy grin. "You really think so, huh?" he countered. "_Now's the time!"_ his mind practically screamed at him. Taking a deep breath, Jet said, "Well then, let me make another good one.

"I love you."

* * *

Wave was quietly humming to herself, looking down at the table in her workshop. She had been repairing Jet's Type J, and it had been no easy feat. She was only halfway done, but already, she was completely exhausted.

Wave gave a tired sigh, stretching to relieve her arms of cramps. A wrench was still in her right hand. When she stopped her stretching and looked, she saw Jet in the doorway, smiling.

"Hey." Wave gave a slight smile at him. After a few more days of recuperation, Jet had been able to come back to the Babylon Rogues' airship.

"How's it going?" Jet asked, entering the workshop and looking around, finally resting his eyes on his disassembled air board. "You almost finished?"

"Not quite." Wave yawned. "Man, you guys need to be more careful when you're riding!" she began to lecture. "Stop doing all your crazy tricks and stunts! Then I won't have to spend hours in here and..." Wave stopped. Jet had pushed her up against the wall.

"If you give me a kiss, maybe I'll think about it..." Jet said. "Please?" he added in.

Wave rolled her eyes. "Come on, Jet," she said, lightly trying to push him away. "Now's not the time. I've got work to do, and besides, you wouldn't want to be kissing a girl covered in oil, would you...?"

Jet paused, pretending to think about it. Wave raised her wrench. "Back off," she ordered. "Or I'll hit you with this. Hard."

Jet smirked. Then, in one sudden move, his hands shot out and began tickling Wave. She began to squeal with uncontrollable laughter, yelling out, "Stop, Jet! No! That's not fair! Cut it out! Otherwise, I'm... ha, ha... never going to... finish the Type J!"

Finally, Jet stopped, and they were both out of breath, panting, Wave leaning against the wall, Jet right beside her, holding onto her. They were both quiet, trying to regain their breath.

Wave lifted her head to push some hair away from her face. As she looked towards the door, her eyes widened. There, just in the doorway, was Storm, and he was smirking at them. However, when he spotted Wave's glare, he quickly took off down the hall as fast as he could.

Wave understood what he was going to do. "STORM!" she shrieked, about to take after him, when she remembered Jet's arms were still around her waist. She paused.

Jet had noticed Storm standing there, too, but he had said nothing. As he panted, still a little winded, he told her, "Come on, Wave, now's not the time. We'll deal with him later. But first..." He smirked, pulling her towards him. "...I think we have something to finish up."

Wave grinned back at him, as he gently pushed her against the wall again, and they kissed.

Now was the perfect time.

_

* * *

_

_A/N: Wow. My first Jet/Wave story, with no annoying author's comments at the beginning, just pure Jet/Wave. _XD_ Sorry for any OCC-ness.  
As usual, Jet, Wave, Sonic, etc., all ©SEGA / Sonic Team.  
Read the story again and review, but most of all, enjoy._


End file.
